wanting a good drumming holiday where should i go

[wonderwebb]

Hi im planning some time off in january and want to go and learn to be a better djembe player.
Where would you suggest i should go to in africa?

I would also like to buy a real good djembe to bring back. How much does a good djembe cost in africa? all info would be appriciated cheers ,

[bops]

Check out the Workshops and Performances section for information on camps in Africa...

I would suggest Bamako, Mali. You'll experience African culture at its finest - the hospitality and warmth of the people, the pace of life that seems to savor every hour - and of course, you'll also find some of the best jembe instruction anywhere in Africa. I'm saving eagerly for my return trip to Mali next winter. Difficult with young kids, I know that first hand. I'm hoping to travel to Segou on my next trip as well as Bamako. My teacher's village is there, and I also want to see La fête sur le Niger.

I love Conakry too, but due to very unfortunate recent circumstances, it is advised not to travel to Guinea Conakry at this time. There have also been travel advisories on Mauritania, Niger, and even Timbuktu in Northern Mali, due to a very small number of kidnappings. Even though the numbers suggest that Chicago, my hometown, is much more dangerous than Timbuktu, the fact that foreigners have been targeted in Northern Mali is worth taking into account.

The majority of teachers who lead annual trips to Guinea have either canceled them or moved them to another location. Famoudou Konate is taking his students to Bamako this year. Mamady Keita is teaching in Senegal. Dakar is a great city, with a lot happening, but it is on the "outskirts" of jembe territory. I've heard good things about Bobo Diolasso, in Burkina Faso, but I've never been so I can't really comment. Ivory Coast is also a hotspot for jembe, but I haven't been there either. I know there was some fighting in Northern IC a couple of years ago, but I haven't heard anything like that since then.

Ghana is also a very nice place to visit, as I understand, but I wouldn't recommend studying jembe there.

[wonderwebb]

thanks for taking the time to reply bops . Looks like mali it is . What were the costs of living out there from your experience and did buy a drum and if you did how much did u pay ?

[michi]

I second bops's recommendations. Mali is great--wonderful friendly people and awesome djembe playing.

As a general recommendation, if this is your first time in Africa, I'd recommend to go with an organised drumming tour. This makes it a lot easier to dip your toe into the water (so to speak) and will take a lot of stress out of the experience. (Africa is sort of "full on" when you get there the first time...)

If you don't speak French, I'd recommend Ghana as the best place to get a taste of Africa. People speak English, the place is safe, democratic, liberal, and generally fun to hang out. If you are a djembe purist, Ghana isn't the best place because the djembe doesn't really belong there. (The history of the djembe in Ghana is about as long as the history of the djembe in the US. Call it thirty years or so...)

On the other hand, if you are just setting out learning to play djembe, it doesn't matter whether you go to Ghana, Guinea, Mali, or Senegal. There are tons of very good djembe players in each of these countries. Basically, when you are a beginner, all these drummers are a bit like Mt Everest. I mean, how do you even begin to assess the subtleties of djembe drumming when you are still struggling with basic accompaninents? There is so much to learn that it doesn't really matter which country you go to. I'd pay more attention to the language barrier. Basically, if you speak French, go to Mali. If you don't, Ghana is a great option.

BTW, the best tour to West Africa that I am aware of is Ekome Tours, run by Simon Fraser from Melbourne and Tuza Afutu from Nungua in Ghana. I went on that tour back in 2005, and overlapped with it in 2008. The drumming instruction is second to none. Tuza is a master drummer (he won the Pan-African drumming contest twice) and a brilliant teacher, and there are two teachers from Burkina Faso there every year (Madou and Adama Keita), who are outstanding.

Simon and Tuza don't just run the tour and organise tuition, but they also arrange for an awesome cultural program. You get to see lots of performances by top-notch groups (such as the African Show Boys), you attend ceremonies, you get to see the country side, etc, etc... And the food is first rate too. As far as I've been able to work out, this is pretty much the best-run tour to West Africa at the moment. (Maybe we should start a thread comparing notes?)

Cheers,

Michi.

[wonderwebb]

Thanxs michi the language thing was at the back of my mind did kind of have that worry.

Now the fact that you mention ghana as a possible destination leads me to the question of djembes.
My first half decent djembe was from ghana . Since getting my hands on my mali djembe and one from the ivory coast i have not picked up my ghana drum or even really played it i know it may seem a silly question but can i get a really good sounding djembe in ghana? The thought of travelling to ghana and having to play what was sold to me as a proffesional ghana djembe does not appeal at all
i dont know if you saw the video i posted but that has my ghana djembe on it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NeukAskeDU

Now if i go to ghana am i going to have to take one of my good djembes or will i be able to find
a drum similar to my mali drum or the one from the ivory coast as these drums seem to do what they are told to do lol.
I was hoping that wherever i go i would be able to find and buy a real gem of a drum to add to my growing collection lol.

thanx for ya help

[bops]

can i get a really good sounding djembe in ghana?

Not for my taste.

I was hoping that wherever i go i would be able to find and buy a real gem of a drum to add to my growing collection lol.

Mali it will be, then.

[wonderwebb]

Hmmm bops do you speak french or has anyone been to mali without speaking french and if so how was the experience?

[bops]

I do speak French, though I was surprised to find that fewer Malians speak it than I expected. Even though both count French as their official language, I found that more people seem to speak French in Guinea than Mali. So I picked up a little Bambara, as I'm sure you will. Learning a new language is a challenge, but a fun one. Plus, it will help your drumming more than you may think.

[michi]

My first half decent djembe was from ghana . Since getting my hands on my mali djembe and one from the ivory coast i have not picked up my ghana drum or even really played it i know it may seem a silly question but can i get a really good sounding djembe in ghana?

You will be able to pick up a decent djembe if you look around at the arts centre in Accra. There's a guy there now selling djembes that he imports from Burkina and Ivory Coast. These are pretty good drums.

The locally-manufactured tweneboa drums are rather average. Sort of OK, but no more than that. They will never sound like a proper Guinea or Mali shell made out of traditional djembe hardwood.

i dont know if you saw the video i posted but that has my ghana djembe on it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NeukAskeDU

Yes, I saw that. Thanks for posting this, I enjoyed watching it And the info you present will be valuable to a lot of people. It makes it clear that not all djembes are born equal and that there are real differences between the imitation ones and the real ones.

Now if i go to ghana am i going to have to take one of my good djembes or will i be able to find
a drum similar to my mali drum or the one from the ivory coast as these drums seem to do what they are told to do lol.

I would not take a djembe to Africa, just like I wouldn't take coal to Newcastle You can usually buy a djembe at less than half the price you would pay in the west.

As far as your travel destination is concerned though, I wouldn't let the djembe dictate that. One of the main issues is the language barrier. If you don't speak French, things will be harder. I spent almost five weeks in Mali and I don't speak French (other than a handful of words, "hello", "thank you", that sort of thing). I got by with sign language and such. But be aware that it makes teaching difficult, because my teachers didn't speak English or German. If you learn from someone you cannot talk to, you have to be prepared to learn by imitation and by feeling things without explanation. Even for advanced players, that can be difficult, and it is more difficult for a beginner.

Also keep in mind that, if you are still at the early stages of playing, it doesn't matter whether you learn from someone in Ghana or someone in Mali. There is so much to learn, and the subtleties of style will probably elude you until some time later.

For your first experience of Africa, I would recommend Ghana because it is generally acknowledged as being the ideal country to "try out" Africa. Going with an organised tour will also help a lot. You get to see the place and explore, but you also have support when it comes to asking questions, figuring out whether someone is trying to rip you off, learning which market to go to for particular items, etc.

Again, I recommend that you check out Ekome Tours. (No, I don't get a kick-back from them--I'm simply a very satisfied past customer, and Simon and Tuza have become good friends of mine.) Every year, the tour has two guest teachers from Burkina, Madou and Adama Keita. They are brothers and phenomenal djembe and dundun players, and the also play and teach flute, kora, gone, and balafon (which they play just as well). So, with Ekome tours, you can combine the convenience of an English-speaking country with teachers who teach true traditional Mandingue rhythms.

Now, don't get me wrong: I'm not trying to talk you out of Mali. But, if you don't speak French and want to go to Mali, I would very much recommend going with an organised tour or staying somewhere where you get a bit of support, such as Jeremy's Djembe Hotel. Otherwise, you will probably find the whole thing rather intimidating and difficult.

Cheers,

Michi.

[wonderwebb]

thanks michi for the in depth response most useful

[dleufer]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned The Gambia! It's an English speaking country and there are definitely loads of drum teachers there. I recently got a contact from a friend of Michi's for a good teacher there which I can pass onto you wonderwebb if you send me a private message. I didn't end up choosing to stay with him but opted for a teacher is Cassamance, Malo Sonko, because I speak French and his set up suited me better.
Also, if you're in the UK Thomas Cook do incredibly cheap flights to the Gambia. I got a return flight for 300 euro/260 sterling from Gatwick to Banjul. Check out cheapflights.co.uk, they show lots of airlines but we found Thomas Cook to be the cheapest. Oh wait, I just checked it there and they have return flight for a ridiculous £154!!!!
Hard to resist...

Another big advantage is that there's no Tweneboah there!

[Carl]

Ohhh the Gambia! My problem with traveling there would be that I would want to study Cora! The Gambia is apparently THE place to go to study Cora!

Otherwise, yeah, the djembe would be cool to...



C